Thomas Edward Jones, better known to his family as "Sugarboy" was born and raised in the Muscogee community of Pensacola on August 28, 1931. He was the fourth child of nine born to Thomas G. Jones (1902-1991) and Inez Mahala Steagall (1905-1986). His father supported the family as a laborer in the bustling logging community near Cantonment. His father would later become a carpenter working on the Works Progress Administration (WPA), renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration. This was a governmental agency that employed millions of unskilled Americans during the Great Depression to build public works, including the public buildings and roads.
Thomas enlisted in the US Marines on September 1, 1948 and was assigned to Company "I" of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division. Thomas was proud of his assignment to the 5th Marines, the most highly decorated regiment of the entire Marine Corps. In the meantime, all was well in America in the peace that followed World War II. But suddenly, in the predawn hours of June 25, 1950, over 75,000 soldiers of the North Korean army crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea. Thomas' regiment was sent to the Pusan Peninsular on August 1, 1950 to bolster the crumbling American and South Korean forces. To stop the enemy juggernaut, General Douglas MacArthur landed Thomas and his division behind their lines in an amphibious attack at Inchon on the 15th of September. This move severed the enemy's supply lines and eventually forced them to fall back. Within a month 135,000 enemy soldiers had been taken prisoner.
But for Thomas and his fellow Marines, there was more hard fighting ahead. Gradually, they pushed the North Koreans back north until they reached the Chosin Reservoir. Again, our forces were surprised on November 27, 1950 when over 120,000 Chinese soldiers charged over the border in freezing weather. After a 17-day battle, the 30,000 UN troops were encircled and faced annihilation. However, the 1st Marine Division only had one narrow road south available to them for escape. This road cut through some of the the harshest terrain ever seen in the annals of warfare. On both sides of the road were steep cliffs and mountains that gave the enemy the ability to rain fire down on the retreating Marines. To make matters worse the temperature dropped to -36 degrees, freezing the vials of morphine and plasma for the wounded. Firing pins froze so weapons would jam and even the vehicle's batteries ceased working. Frostbite became as dangerous as gunshot and shrapnel wounds.
Along the way, Thomas and his regiment were ordered to attack west toward Mupyong-ni on November 27th, but it soon stalled, forcing them to dig in on the ridges surrounding Yudam-ni. As night came, three Chinese regiments attacked them, which quickly devolved in hand-to-hand combat. But Thomas and his regiment held the line with the Chinese dead piled up in front of the positions. With mounting dead, the enemy commander left the Marines of Yudam-ni surrounded but ceased their attacks to shift to other targets. Thomas had a temporary reprieve. But on November 30th, the Marines attempted a breakout with Thomas' 3rd Battalion as the vanguard of the convoy with a single tank leading the way. His convoy was forced to fight their way through one obstacle after another. On the night of November 30/December 1, the Chinese struck the convoy inflicting heavy casualties. PFC Thomas Edward Jones was one of those killed in the heaving fighting by a mortar/artillery round. But, to the best of their ability, the Marines brought their dead comrades out with them to be buried later in military cemeteries. Thomas' surviving comrades made it out by December 4, 1950 and became known as the "Chosin Few" who survived the "Frozen Chosin." Over 18,000 UN forces were now casualties versus 48,000 Chinese. Thus, the name "Chosin" became embedded in Marine Corps lore and joined such hallowed names as Tripoli, Belleau Wood, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima!
The 5th Marines returned to the states in March 1955 and with them they brought "Sugarboy" home per the request of his parents. His remains were buried with full military honors in the Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery where he rests among his family today.
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